Inbox 1 (Hirvitalo - Pispalan nykytaiteen keskus. Center of Contemporary Art Pispala. Tampere, Finland, 2012)
Inbox 1 is an initiation of a long-term project that deals with the basic communication between the artist and the audience. The first part of the project (marked with 1, the next one should be 2 and so on) is set as open online conversation during the time of the exhibition and is done through computer/ Internet connection. The audience can contact me within this time frame, everyday, until the exhibition space is closed. Beside the computer, there will be a note with all my contact information, available to everyone who visits the space, so each person can choose how to contact me. This can be done through several social networks, communication tools and email.
The project questions the way this communication is mediated and how this affects the complex relation between the artist and the audience. This communication is usually mediated by the artwork, often leaving the artist with nothing but a self-referential position in which: the audience’s comments are not critically reflective, the artist is present only at the exhibition opening and every secondary process is mediated by the gallery (artwork loans, buying and selling, artist contact etc). In this direction the project aims to create a space where the audience can talk to me about anything, send/ask me for a statement or send me images online.
The idea is generated from some institutional critique theories that deal with relations in the art system and institutional policies in a specific social context. It also evolves from Duchamp's statement that the audience is also a relevant subject in the creative act. However, this communication is utterly different from our everyday communication, generally because it is site-specific. The planned outcome is creating an archive from all conversations, messages and possibly visual material. The archive will be created without any selection, thus preserving all material as relevant, ready to be presented, exhibited and interpreted in different contexts.
Installation (computer, internet connection, project description- printed)
Photo by Mikko Lipiäinen
Inbox 1 is an initiation of a long-term project that deals with the basic communication between the artist and the audience. The first part of the project (marked with 1, the next one should be 2 and so on) is set as open online conversation during the time of the exhibition and is done through computer/ Internet connection. The audience can contact me within this time frame, everyday, until the exhibition space is closed. Beside the computer, there will be a note with all my contact information, available to everyone who visits the space, so each person can choose how to contact me. This can be done through several social networks, communication tools and email.
The project questions the way this communication is mediated and how this affects the complex relation between the artist and the audience. This communication is usually mediated by the artwork, often leaving the artist with nothing but a self-referential position in which: the audience’s comments are not critically reflective, the artist is present only at the exhibition opening and every secondary process is mediated by the gallery (artwork loans, buying and selling, artist contact etc). In this direction the project aims to create a space where the audience can talk to me about anything, send/ask me for a statement or send me images online.
The idea is generated from some institutional critique theories that deal with relations in the art system and institutional policies in a specific social context. It also evolves from Duchamp's statement that the audience is also a relevant subject in the creative act. However, this communication is utterly different from our everyday communication, generally because it is site-specific. The planned outcome is creating an archive from all conversations, messages and possibly visual material. The archive will be created without any selection, thus preserving all material as relevant, ready to be presented, exhibited and interpreted in different contexts.
Installation (computer, internet connection, project description- printed)
Photo by Mikko Lipiäinen
